Friday, April 18, 2014

Beet Red

Get ready: I'm doing two food posts this week. (It's been a good foodie week at the Sibbald house!) This one is from a Pinterest pin from Joyous Health, but has my own twist and more pictures. That makes it better, right?

The recipe is dead simple and used two ingredients that I happened to have in my fridge: kale and beets. I love beets, could eat them at almost every meal, but one does grow tired of eating them the same old way every time.

Would you like them chopped into small cubes and steamed, or quartered and steamed? What choices!

As for kale, I'm late to the kale-eating game and have only tried it steamed (meh) or sauteed in butter (better tasting, but less healthy).

Together, the beets and kale offer a one-two punch of fibre and antioxidants.

So this recipe promised much joy -- and I was right.

INGREDIENTS

Salad

4 medium beets, grated (or 2 cups grated beets)

2 bunches kale, washed and ripped away from stems into bite size pieces and then finely chopped. [I only used one bunch and it made a gigantic salad. Maybe their bunches are smaller.]

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds [I did not have any pumpkin seeds on hand, so I used slivered almonds.]1/4 cup hemp hearts [my addition]

6 medjool dates, chopped (remove the pit) [I used cheap, baking dates, like the ones I used in the Queen Elizabeth Cake recipe, because that's what I had on hand. They tasted just fine and are cheaper.]

Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, to taste

2 tbsp honey

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start with a pretty bowl. You will not want to use one of your wooden salad bowls for this because it will stain. Also, this salad makes a very large batch, so make sure your bowl can handle it.

This bowl is a souvenir from one of our romantic weekend getaways to Gananoque, near Kingston.

2. Shred your raw beets. I'm still waiting for a replacement part for our food processor, so I had to shred these by hand. It looked like I had been performing satanic rituals in the kitchen.

3. Chop, chop, and chop the kale.

I selected baby kale and first separated the leaves from the tough stems/centre veins. My single bunch made for a LOT of kale.

You may have noticed that I've been using them frequently in my cooking -- tossing them into baked goods, entrees, and salads like they're fairy dust.

Hemp hearts are considered a "super food," and I am all about nurturing our super-powers, so why not sprinkle them? Just kidding. According to Healing Source, they are "the most concentrated and best-balanced source of proteins, essential fats and vitamins in nature." That may be slightly exaggerated, but they are certainly good for us without adding a bunch of carbs or additives. Plus, they taste really nice - mild and slightly nutty. So I add them to almost anything where their texture will be pleasant. (I even sprinkled them in cinnamon rolls last week, and no one noticed.)

5. Whisk or shake dressing ingredients together. Pour over top of salad. Garnish with slivered almonds and enjoy!

Eat up and be healthy!

Warning: the red of the beets may show up in your urine or stool over the next day or so. (Seriously; I panic every time! I need a sign for the bathroom.) Don't be alarmed. But if you are watching someone who has digestive problems (tummy bug), do not feed them this salad as you will not be able to discern the source of the red colouring.